Confusing much of the public is that Musk is raising legitimate issues — the heavy paperwork and creaking bureaucracy. But these are being used as a smokescreen for unfettered access, retributive violence especially against transgendered and immigrant communities, and gross invasions of privacy unrivaled in history. This coup is the greatest theft of information ever.
As Timothy Snyder explains: “The ongoing actions by Musk and his followers are a coup because the individuals seizing power have no right to it. Elon Musk was elected to no office and there is no office that would give him the authority to do what he is doing. It is all illegal. It is also a coup in its intended effects: to undo democratic practice and violate human rights.”
All this can make us feel crazy. It’s a terrible aching feeling, especially when we talk to folks who see this as normal or good. But a colleague living under Turkish authoritarianism advised us, “Embrace, even cherish, that feeling. It’s a sign that you are not taking in the lies.” Staying free means we refuse to internalize or normalize the awful things happening.
Yes, there’s a lot of gas lighting. AND people are resisting at every level — and it’s important we tell those stories to each other. A few heroes:
Denise Cheung, head of the criminal division in the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office, resigned after refusing a Justice Department order to freeze $20 billion in climate funds. In her resignation letter, she revealed that Trump officials had pressured her to launch a baseless criminal probe. Others resigning in protest include Jim Jones, head of the food division at the Food and Drug Administration and many, many more…
A national day of action just passed — you can plug in with local protests and see pictures from the hundreds of actions across the country at Build the Resistance.org (they’re also holding a training series).
People have been targeting Musk and his companies —including protestors showing up at Tesla headquarters. And spare a moment to consider the worker’s act of defiance who covertly printed this sign at a Tesla dealership, snuck it out the window, and taped it for people as a show of support during an action in San Francisco (“We Hate Him Too” it says).
People continue to bravely resist orders and execution of Trump’s plans to split up families — with national trainings for people battling ICE (another one coming up on Feb 20th).
People poured onto the streets outside the Stonewall National Monument on Friday, after references to “transgender” disappeared from the U.S. National Park Service website.
and so so many more!
The resistance is not wholly concentrated on any point right now. That’s appropriate for the defensive phase we’re in. It’s spread out amongst many, many, many, many points. Media isn’t good at covering resistance at the best of times — and so it can feel more isolating than it is. There is a lot happening — a professor made a chart to show some of the nodes.
We’re mostly at the stage of gathering our strength and bringing new folks into alignment about what’s happening. This will be a long road.
(For news on what’s happening, we continue to find Heather Cox Richardson an excellent first-read or for understanding the goal of the tech oligarchs check out Brian Merchant.)
WHAT CAN I DO?
Since we keep getting asked “what can I do” we created this resource. (We’re just volunteers so not able to keep it up-to-date with latest protests, but it’s got a lot of good options for folks.)
People have been targeting Musk and his companies —including protestors showing up at Tesla headquarters. And spare a moment to consider the worker’s act of defiance who covertly printed this sign at a Tesla dealership, snuck it out the window, and taped it for people as a show of support during an action in San Francisco (“We Hate Him Too” it says).